Hook-setting device



Nov. 10, 1953 H. E. MAXFIELD Hoax-SETTING DEVICE Filed July 24, 1951 gmMmm# ma WZ ./TTORNEYS Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEHOOK-SETTING DEVICE Harold E. Maxfield, Laramie, Wyo.

Application `luly 24, 1951, Serial No. 238,207

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to shing tackle, and more particularly hasreference to a device attachable to a fishingrod and adapted for hookinga sh and setti-ng the hook in the fishs mouth.

By way of background, it may be noted that devices of the generalcharacterv described are not new. However, those devices that havepreviously been devised for the stated purpose have not, to myknowledge, proved entirely satisfactory. It is important that in. adevice: of. the type stated the device be capable of ready attachment toorv detachment from a fishing rod, so that, at the option of thefisherman, the device: may be used or not used as desired.

It is also of importance in such a device that the device be so formedand mounted on the rod as not to interfere with ordinary casting of thelure or bait. Continuing, it is' important also that the device.interfere in no respect. with the reeling in of the line, or playing ofthe fish after the fish has been hooked.

Still further, a devicev as stated should be so formed as to be capableof being triggered atthe proper time after the iish has taken' the bait`or lure and has pulled gently upon the line,v and Vafter triggering' orreleasing of the device, the device should d'esirably act instantly toset the hook firmly in the shs mouth.

It is the broad purpose of thev present invention to provide a devicewhich will have all the advantages stated.

More specically, i-t is proposed to provide a device as described thatwill be capabley of attachment with facil-ity to a fishing' rod of anysize or diameter.

Another important object is tof provide a device of the type stated inwhich the jerker arm thereof can be interchangedfor arms of shorter orlonger length, as may be desiredl by the fisherman.

Yet another object is to provide a fish-hooking device which willoperatey instantly and emciently on all occasions when the bait has beentaken by the fis-h and a gentle pull exerted upon the line by the fish.

Yet another object isto providev a hook-setting device as described anadjustable trigger capable of being tensioned adjustably, so as to beIresponsive to more or less pull upon the line by the fishey this beingdesirable in view of the fact that in some instances the bait will be ata substantial depth, while in other instances a. heavier line might beused or aheavier weight or sinker. All of these factors:l tend to affectthe extent of pull upon the line by the fish.

Yet another object is to provide; a hook.-

Lii)

setting device as describedan adjustable trigger capable of beingtensioned adjustably, so as to be responsive to more or less pull uponthe line by the sh, this being desirable in view of the fact that in.some instances the bait will be at a substantial depth,` while in otherinstances'` a heavier line might be used. or a heavier weight or sinker.All of these factors tend tol affect to extent of pull upon the line bythe fish.

Still another object is to provide a device as described which, whenbeing removed from a fishing rod, need not be disassembled either inwhole or in part.

Another object isl to provide a fish-hooking device which, after iteffects the setting of. the hook in the shs mouth, will move upwardlyand downwardly according to the pressurey exerted upon the line bythefish, and will,v at the same time, allow the fish to pull more line fromthe reel, whereby the fish is played until the angler takes the rod.

Referring tothe drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a fish.- hooking device formed inaccordance with the present invention, the dotted lines` indicating; aposition to which the hook-setting arm swingable after the triggering ofthe device by the fish, said device` being illustrated as mounted upon`a fishing rod, portions of whichr are broken away;

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view, portions of the rodI andhook-setting arm being broken away:

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view,. portions' being broken away;

Figure Lis a transverse sectionalA View taken on line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Referringk to the drawings in detaiL a conventional flsh-ing rod I isprovided with a reel 2 and. a plurality of line guides 3', a fishingline 4 extending from' said reel through the several guides.

The present invention includes a clamp means', whereby the device isattached to the rod shortl-y inadvance of the reel 2, and thisclamp-ing. device comprises lower and upper clamp members 5 and. 6 thatrespectively underlie and overlie the rod,y as best seen from- Figurel.The clamp' members are provided with opposed arcuate medial portions inwhich the rod I is seated.

The upper clamp member 6 is formed at op'- posite ends: with rolledsleeves l in; which are pivotalliy mounted the upper ends of "lf-shapedclamping bolts 8T. The lower clamp member 5 is provided at one end withan; opening 3 loosely receiving one of the bolts 8, while the other endof the lower clamp member has a short longitudinal slot opening inwardlyfrom said other end, that receives the shank of the other bolt 8, saidslot being designated I0.

As seen from Figure 4, the shanks of the bolts 8 project downwardly asubstantial distance below the lower clamp member, and extend throughcoil springs held under compression by wing nuts I2 which are capable ofbeing threaded upi wardly and downwardly upon the bolts. for the purposeof adjusting the tension of said springs.

Carried by the respective clamp members are transversely curved clampingplates I3 extending longitudinally of the rod I, there being interposedbetween said clamping plates and the rod resilient, transversely curved'cushions or pads I4. Rivets I5 and I6 connect the respective clampingplates to the clamp members 5 and 6.

The rivet I6 secures to the upper clamp member 6 a U-shaped yoke I1disposed transversely of and overlying the rod I, and the yoke |1 inturn supports the flat body I8 of a supporting member, said body beingsecured rigidly to the yoke |1 by means of bolts I9 extendingtherebetween. The body I8 is spaced above the base of the yoke by meansof spacer sleeves 20 through which the bolts |9 extend.

Formed integrally upon the supporting member at opposite sides of thebody I8 thereof are upturned ears 2| contiguous to the upstanding armsof the yoke, said supporting member being also integrally formed withdownturned ends 22 recessed to fit over the end portions of the upperclamping plate I3.

In the downturned ends 22 horizontally aligned apertures 23 are formed,the fishing line 4 passing loosely through said apertures.

A connecting bolt 24 is disposed transversely of the fishing rod andconnects the upstanding arms 0f the yoke and ears of the supportingmember, and provides a support for a coil spring 25 through which theconnecting bolt extends.

Pivotally mounted upon the opposite ends of the connecting bolt are theforwardly converging arms 26 having downwardly offset portions 21. Thearms 26 constitute the inner end of an elongated rod member, generallydesignated 28, extended longitudinally of the fishing rod I and formedat its free end with an eye 29 through which is passed the fishing line4. The rod memberv 28 is of sectional formation, the inner and outersections thereof being separably but fixedly connected by an internallythreaded connecting sleeve 28'. lengths may thus be convenientlyinterchanged to provide a rod member 28 of a desired length. Afterpassage through the eye 29, the fishing line is passed through that lineguide 3 that is disposed nearest the reel 2, as shown in Figure 1.

Normally, rod member 28 is held in the full line position illustrated inFigure 1 by the trigger means to be described. However, when the triggeris released, the rod member is swung upwardly in a vertical plane to thechain-dotted position illustrated in Figure l under the action of thecoil spring 25. Coil spring 25 in this connection has one end hookedover one of the forwardly converging arms 26, as shown at 30. The otherend of the spring, as seen from Figure 3, is engaged against body I8 ofthe supporting member. When rod member 28 is in the full line positionillustrated in Figure 1, coil spring 25 is held under substantialtension, and it will thus be apparent that when the trigger is released,the spring 25,

Outer sections of selected, different under moment tending to unwind it,jerks rod member 28 instantaneously to an upstanding position, thus topull inwardly a substantial length of shing line 4,

Considering now the trigger means embodied in the invention, a triggersupport screw 3| is of inverted U shape, and is vertically slidablewithin the body I8 of the supporting member, said screw being threadedat one end for engagement within a tension-adjusting sleeve nut 32.Thus, rotation of sleeve nut 32 in one direction will adjust screw 3|upwardly, while rotation in an opposite direction will adjust screw 3|downwardly.

Pivotally mounted upon the upper end of screw 3| is the intermediateportion of a trigger 33 having at its front end an eye 34 receiving theline 4, the line 4 passing loosely through said eye. At its other endthe trigger is hooked over a cross member 35 rigidly secured to andextending transversely between the converging arms 26.

When it is desired to retain, temporarily, the rod member 28 in the fullline position illustrated in Figure 1, in a manner whereby it will notbe subject to release by the trigger, a, horizontally swingable catch 36is hooked over the downwardly offset portion 21 of one of the arms 26,the catch 36 being pivotally connected to one of the bolts I9 by meansof one end being Wrapped about the portion of such bolt above thecomplemental sleeve 20, as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 4.

'I'he use of the device may now be readily noted. Assuming that it isdesired to cast the lure, the rod member 28 is first manually forced tothe full line position illustrated in Figure 1, and the catch 36 isengaged over the downwardly offset portion 21. Thereafter, the castingoperation may be carried out with facility, and it will be noted, and isan important feature of the device, that the casting is not interferedwith by the device, the line 4 running loosely through the openings 23during said casting.

After the lure has been cast out, the trigger 33 is set in the positionillustrated in Figure 3, and the catch is adjusted to the releasedposition thereof illustrated in Figure 2.

When a fish takes the bait or lure, the sh will exert a gentle pull uponthe line 4, tending to pull downwardly upon the eye of the trigger 33.As a result, the trigger will be disengaged from the cross member 35,and the spring 25, under moment tending to unwind it, instantaneouslyjerks the rod member 28 to the upstanding position illustrated inchain-dotted lines in Figure l. As a result, the sh is instantaneouslyhooked and the hook is firmly set in the shs mouth.

Assuming that the angler does not take charge of the rod immediately,the sh, in its efforts to disengage itself from the hook, will exertsuccessive pulls upon the line 4, but the rod member 28, in oppositionto said pulls, will continuously exert a yielding pressure in anopposite direction under the action of the spring 25. However, saidaction of the spring does not hold the rod member 28 in a rigid,immovable position, and the fish is played until the angler takes therod.

In attaching the device to a rod or removing the device from a rod, itis necessary merely to thread downwardly that wing nut I2, illustratedat the left in Figure 4, to some extent, after which the left-hand bolt8 is swung outwardly out of the slot I0, permitting the lower clampmember 5 to pivot upon the right-hand sleeve 1 for complete detachmentof the device from the rod. At no time, of course, is it necessary toremove entirely the wing nuts 2.

It is also an important characteristic of the invention that the outersection of the rod member 28 is capable of being detached from thedevice without separation of any other parts of the device, and can evenbe detached from the device while the device is positioned upon afishing rod l. This is accomplished merely by removal of the outersection from the connecting sleeve 28', after which a section of longeror shorter length can be substituted.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of t'he class described comprising, in combination with aiishing rod having a reel and a line wound upon the reel and extendingto the tip of the rod, a clamp member adapted for attachment to said rodbetween the reel and tip; a supporting means overlying the clamp member;means rigidly connecting the clamp and supporting means, the supportingmeans having apertures for passage of said fishing line looselytherethrough; a rod member pivotally mounted at one end upon thesupporting means, said rod member having its other end disposed betweenthe supporting means and rod tip and having an eye at said other end forpassage of the fishing line therethrough; a trigger, means pivotallymounting the trigger upon the supporting means, said trigger havingmeans at one end through which said line is loosely extended, the otherend of the trigger being releasably engageable with the rod member; anda spring mounted upon the supporting member and engaged with the rodmember for swinging the rod member upwardly responsive to pull exertedupon the line by a fish tending to release t'he trigger.

2. A device of the class described comprising, in combination with ashing rod having a reel and a line wound upon the reel and extending tothe tip of the rod, a clamp adapted for releasable connection to saidrod between the reel and tip; a supporting means rigid with andoverlying the clamp, said supporting means having at least one aperturethrough which said line is loosely extended; upstanding ears extendedupwardly from opposite sides of said supporting means; a connecting boltextending between said ears; a rod member pivotally mounted at one endupon said connecting bolt for swinging movement in a vertical plane,said rod member having its other end disposed between the supportingmeans and rod tip and being adapted at said other end for passage of thefishing line loosely therethrough; a trigger, means pivotally mountingthe trigger upon the supporting means, said trigger having an eye at oneend for passage of said fishing line loosely therethrough, the other endof said trigger being releasably engageable with the rod member; and aspring coiled upon said bolt and engaged with the rod member, saidspring being adapted to swing the rod member upwardly on release of therod member by the trigger responsive to pull exerted upon the trigger bythe line.

3. A device of the class described comprising, in combination with afishing rod having a reel and a line wound upon the reel and extendingto the tip of the rod, a clamp adapted for releasable attachment to saidfishing rod between the reel and tip; a supporting means rigid with andoverlying the clamp; a rod member pivotally connected at one end to thesupporting means for swinging movement in a vertical plane, said rodmember having its other end disposed between the supporting means androd tip; means on the supporting means and engaged with the rod membertending to swing the rod member upwardly; a trigger, means pivotallymounting the trigger upon the supporting means, said trigger having aneye at one end for passage loosely therethrough of the fishing line, therod member having an eye at said other end thereof for passage looselytherethrough of the fishing line, said trigger being releasably engagedat its other end with said rod member; and means on said supportingmeans for up-and-down adjustment of the pivotal mounting of said triggerrelative to the supporting means.

HAROLD E. MAXFIELD.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 77,893 Koehler May 12, 1868 154,141 Hill Aug. 18, 1874 562,195Plath June 16, 1896 2,340,588 Groves Feb. 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 287,367 Great Britain Mar. 22, 1928 62,781 Germany June 10,1892 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics magazine, article entitled,Metal Arm Jerks Line When Fish Strikes, vol. 94, issues number 1, page109, published July, 1950.

